Participants are recruited in labor and delivery and 1-2 weeks after birth are randomized to an intervention group (parenting) or a control group (safety). The parenting intervention messages are related to responsive feeding, division of feeding responsibility, and healthy dietary choices designed for the prevention of obesity that extend from infancy through age 3 years. These materials also contain messages relating to sleep, active social play, and child fussiness/soothing. The control group receives messages focused on the safety of the child’s environment and interaction with parents.

The parenting intervention program is hypothesized to show efficacy in both breast and formula fed infants as measured by the primary outcome, body mass index (BMI) at age 3 years. Secondary parental and infant behavior outcomes include sleep duration, feed duration, fussing and crying duration, feeding practices and attitudes and parenting sense of competence.